A simple, skin-tone slider so simple Chim-Chim the Primate can use it.

Title says it all. A helpful forum member pointed me at a good introductory page to learn the basics of Surfaces, but the assorted morphs in the Evolution bundles make me wonder if there isn't a way to create tool that would provide a basic and simple color slider for human skin tones, which could then be fine-tuned via Surfaces after you got to the neighborhood you wanted. Kind of like I've seen in countless MMO's and RPG's which offered character customization.

I'd buy the hell out of that.

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Title says it all. A helpful forum member pointed me at a good introductory page to learn the basics of Surfaces, but the assorted morphs in the Evolution bundles make me wonder if there isn't a way to create tool that would provide a basic and simple color slider for human skin tones, which could then be fine-tuned via Surfaces after you got to the neighborhood you wanted. Kind of like I've seen in countless MMO's and RPG's which offered character customization.

I'd buy the hell out of that.

I know the sort you mean and have used them....however I think what we have gives us more options.

A slider by its nature is linear which would limit the colour palette you can use.

Secondly there are a number of variables that go into skin tone.

1. The diffuse which can either be just a colour or both a texture map and a colour. A good diffuse map makes a huge difference in the final skin surface you get.

2. Specular which can also have map, colour or both

3. Ambient see above

4. Lighting which as a variety of choices

If you want something to make skins easier to get right I would suggest picking up the human surface shader that comes with most elite textures.

I may have missed a few points its still very early here and I haven't had coffee yet. Couldn't check the surfaces tab as I have a kitten asleep on my arm and didn't want to move her. Good luck with surfaces!

I would like a skin pack with various shades of skin included. I do tend to have a lack of tanned mid-tone skin.

Did V4 have a pack like that or was that V3?

Can't remember...I think it may have been V3 and I'm not sure how well Gen3 textures converted to Gen4 work with Genesis.

If you're using Texture Converter 2, they work OK. The two weaknesses I've seen is that you can get visible stretching on the back of the head (SkinHead) and also under the arm along the line of the pectoral (SkinTorso, I think). Depends, in part, on the resolution of the source texture.

A couple downsides I can see to the slider method: first, people generally aren't evenly colored, so you'll need a well done texture as your base to keep them from looking sort of odd. Second, it would need texture material zones to be defined differently, especially for darker colored skins -- assuming you're aiming for normal human tones, and not for something like drow elves or something unusual. You can almost always tell when someone's altered the diffuse to try to create darker skin tones, because it takes the palms and soles of the feet with it. There are ways around that when you're making the texture, but a lot of people don't take those steps. And when you don't take those steps, you wind up with people with dark palms and soles, which looks very very very wrong.

If you want to get a feel for how such a slider would work, you can always try Skintones for V4, a freebie at ShareCG. It's presets, not sliders, but it's still dead simple to use. I actually have used it, but I have to decide either to handle a character's hands very carefully or have them always wear gloves. (By the by, that works by altering the color in the diffuse channel, so it works for characters other than V4, no problem.)

Thanks vwrangler...I wasn't sure how well they converted. At least the texture stretching on the skinhead would be covered by the hair most of the time the arms would be a bit of problems though.

Depending on the types and resolutions of the textures you use, the stretching on the chest might not be noticeable. I don't have the filters for converting from V3/A3 to V4, so I don't know how it works. Part of the issue with male textures, especially when it's taken from photographic source, is that the hair in the armpit gets pulled along the stretch, which highlights the issue. Since female textures don't normally have such heavy definition on the pectoral, and part of that structure could be covered by the breast, it might be fine. Someone who's used TC2 with those textures would have to answer the question.

Poser used to be able to do simple color shifts but they broke that in later versions. That means that most people just stopped working with them. They work in DS but people normally try to make it work equally in both (as much as you can).